Bihar hooch tragedy rocks both Houses of legislature; toll rises to 30

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar continued to face flak as the toll from the Saran hooch tragedy crossed 30 on Friday, the biggest since Bihar went dry more than six years ago.

BJP legislators disrupted proceedings in both Houses of Bihar legislature before staging a Raj Bhavan march. Unconfirmed reports claimed up to 50 people died drinking illicitly brewed country liquor. The Saran DM told PTI that the deaths were "caused by suspected consumption of spurious liquor", which would be confirmed after the viscera of the deceased are examined at forensic labs.

Also read: SIT constituted to probe Bihar hooch case; whip cracked on errant officials

Retorting to the BJP's criticism in the Bihar assembly, Kumar pointed to the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat, in which over 130 people were killed, alleging states not ruled by BJP got an unfair portrayal in the media.

Kumar also rejected a demand for compensation to family members of hooch tragedy victims by an MLA of the CPI(M), which supports his government. Kumar compared the media's treatment of the Morbi accident to the collapse of a flyover at Kolkata six years ago. A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, seeking an independent probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the hooch tragedy.

(With inputs from PTI)